1. On fashion and shopping...

    • IS: What about the rumpled aspect of the Old Money Look? Aldrich is ultimately just one man’s opinion, but in his Atlantic Monthly story, he says the great secret about the WASP upper class is the tremendous effort and anxiety goes that goes into appearing nonchalant.
    • BB: Originally I think that nonchalance comes from a couple of different places. One certainly is quality. It’s better to have one good pair of shoes than a half dozen cheap ones, because the cheap ones look cheap even when they’re new, but the new ones look good even when they’re old. Quality by definition is the best you can get for your money. If you buy a pair of shoes for $500 and they last you 10 years, that’s $50 per year. If you buy a pair for $100 and they last you six months, which was the more expensive? I think the Old Money WASP guys were just cheap, so they always bought the best.
    • IS: Sure: Yankee frugality.
    • BB: Yes, that’s what I think it’s about. And the best always is the cheapest, if you have the money to buy it in the first place. The way we do it today is ask how much it costs. Nobody asks how much it costs over its lifetime — it’s just the initial price. And if you only look at the initial price, you’re going to get screwed every time. I think that’s what the Old Money guys thought, and I think they’re right.

Notes

  1. celatte reblogged this from ethandesu
  2. whattackylookslike reblogged this from ethandesu
  3. currentblend reblogged this from effortlessgent
  4. saintcrispinsblessing reblogged this from spikedonwhite
  5. racemyheart-raisemybreath reblogged this from ethandesu
  6. effortlessgent reblogged this from ethandesu
  7. hijabeng reblogged this from sunakoshops
  8. menamongstgiants reblogged this from ethandesu
  9. supremecommissar reblogged this from ethandesu
  10. fuckfugues reblogged this from ethandesu
  11. bloodworthandco reblogged this from ethandesu
  12. coppingandscheming reblogged this from ethandesu
  13. theunbuttonedlife reblogged this from ethandesu
  14. sunakoshops reblogged this from ethandesu and added:
    I’m going to insert myself in this conversation. I am conflicted...hand, I hate it because...
  15. ashtonethan reblogged this from ethandesu
  16. goandrewngo reblogged this from ethandesu
  17. mftma reblogged this from ethandesu

About me

My heroes include Lady Gaga, Alexander McQueen, Marcia Tucker, Diana Vreeland, Dr. Sam Howell (my art history professor at FMU), Bill Cunningham, and many others. These people have helped to shape my ideas about style, art, and fashion; creating a mélange which draws upon every period, from antiquity to modern day pop culture. Here and now I will attempt to add my voice to all the others and in doing so I begin training my eye and mind to be more discerning and expressive on the subject of fashion as art and vice-versa art as fashion. Fashion is a way of living, therefore art is a way of life too.

Likes